How to: Setup Outlook to Open Replies and Forwards in Pop-Out Window instead of Reading Pane

Microsoft Outlook 2013, 2016 and Office 365 defaults to open email replies and forwards in the reading pane, to have the email pop-out by default instead in an uncluttered window, just follow the simple steps below.

Outlook defaults to creating the replies and forwards in the preview pane or inline window. If you are composing a reply or forward and a new email comes in, the reply/forward will be lost if the new email is opened.

In the Online version Outlook Web App OWA, you can fix this by clicking the POP OUT icon. But in the desktop version, how can Outlook be set to use a new window for composing replies?

There are two methods, all of which are really the getting at the same change:

Method 1: From Outlook GUI:

Open Microsoft Outlook > Click File > Options

Click Mail > Scroll down to Replies and forwards > Check box Open replies and forwards when replying or forwarding.

Outlook Options

Click OK to save settings update.

Method 2: From Registry GUI:

To change the default settings, there is a registry fix. Registry item doesn’t exist by default, however Outlook does automatically add it when changing the setting in Outlook Options. We can find it here for Outlook 2016 or Outlook for Office 365.